"Mesi" to Nicholas Kristof for his article below in defense of the Haitian people. Development "experts" and religious "leaders" alike have put forth their own theories, ranging from fatalism to God's will, to explain Haiti's poverty. Friends of Haiti know that Haitians are a strong, proud people who did not deserve what has happened to them. As Kristof writes, " ...the implication of belated seismic revenge on Haitian children seems defamatory of God." Haitians have made it through natural and man-made disasters before this. While Haiti won't be the same, it will recover - the ultimate rebuttal to those who say it cannot.

On my blog, a woman named Mona pointed to Haitian corruption and declared: “I won’t send money because I know what will happen to it.” Another reader attributed Haiti’s poverty to “the low I.Q. of the 9 million people there,” and added: “It is all very sad and cannot be fixed.”

“Giving money to Haiti and other third-world countries is like throwing money in the toilet,” another commenter said. A fourth asserted: “Haiti is a money pit. Dumping billions of dollars into it has proven futile. ... America is deeply in debt, and we can’t afford it.”

Not everyone is so frank, but the subtext of much of the discussion of Haiti is despair about both Haiti and foreign aid. Pat Robertson, the religious broadcaster, went furthest by suggesting that Haiti’s earthquake flowed from a pact with the devil more than two centuries ago. While it’s not for a journalist to nitpick a minister’s theological credentials, that implication of belated seismic revenge on Haitian children seems defamatory of God.

Americans have also responded with a huge outpouring of assistance, including more than $22 million raised by the Red Cross from text messages alone. But for those with doubts, let’s have a frank discussion of Haiti’s problems:

Why is Haiti so poor? Is it because Haitians are dimwitted or incapable of getting their act together?

Haiti isn’t impoverished because the devil got his due; it’s impoverished partly because of debts due. France imposed a huge debt that strangled Haiti. And when foreigners weren’t looting Haiti, its own rulers were.

The greatest predation was the deforestation of Haiti, so that only 2 percent of the country is forested today. Some trees have been — and continue to be — cut by local peasants, but many were destroyed either by foreigners or to pay off debts to foreigners. Last year, I drove across the island of Hispaniola, and it was surreal: You traverse what in places is a Haitian moonscape until you reach the border with the Dominican Republic — and jungle.

Without trees, Haiti lost its topsoil through erosion, crippling agriculture. To visit Haiti is to know that its problem isn’t its people. They are its treasure — smart, industrious and hospitable — and Haitians tend to be successful in the United States (and everywhere but in Haiti).

Can our billions in aid to Haitians accomplish anything? After all, a Wall Street Journal column argues, “To help Haiti, end foreign aid.” First, don’t exaggerate how much we give or they get.

Haiti ranks 42nd among poor countries in worldwide aid received per person ($103 in 2008, more than one-quarter of which comes from the United States). David Roodman of the Center for Global Development calculates that in 2008, official American aid to Haiti amounted to 92 cents per American.

The United States gives more to Haiti than any other country. But it ranks 11th in per capita giving. Canadians give five times as much per person as we do. As for whether aid promotes economic growth, that’s a bitter and unresolved argument. But even the leading critics of aid — William Easterly, a New York University economist, and Dambisa Moyo, a banker turned author — believe in assisting Haiti after the earthquake.

“I think we have a moral imperative,” Ms. Moyo told me. “I do believe the international community should act.” Likewise, Professor Easterly said: “Of course, I am in favor of aid to Haiti earthquake victims!” So, is Haiti hopeless? Is Bill O’Reilly right? He said: “Once again, we will do more than anyone else on the planet, and one year from today Haiti will be just as bad as it is right now.” No, he’s not right. And this is the most pernicious myth of all. In fact, Haiti in recent years has been much better managed under President René Préval and has shown signs of being on the mend.

Far more than most other impoverished countries — particularly those in Africa — Haiti could plausibly turn itself around. It has an excellent geographic location, there are no regional wars, and it could boom if it could just export to the American market.

A report for the United Nations by a prominent British economist, Paul Collier, outlined the best strategy for Haiti: building garment factories. That idea (sweatshops!) may sound horrific to Americans. But it’s a strategy that has worked for other countries, such as Bangladesh, and Haitians in the slums would tell you that their most fervent wish is for jobs. A few dozen major shirt factories could be transformational for Haiti.

So in the coming months as we help Haitians rebuild, let’s dispatch not only aid workers, but also business investors. Haiti desperately needs new schools and hospitals, but also new factories. And let’s challenge the myth that because Haiti has been poor, it always will be. That kind of self-fulfilling fatalism may be the biggest threat of all to Haiti, the real pact with the devil.

While I'm certainly not opposed to jobs being brought to Haiti, the "let's build factories" strategy has been touted again and again ... for decades ... ad naseum. It is NOT what saved other countries (which often had high tariffs and significant political reforms such as land reform and massive investments in schooling and other social programs that really brought up living standards; that is what Haiti needs). Moreover, factories will most likely be placed in P-a-P and we need more emphasis on development strategies that will work in other areas of the country. P-a-P should not have 2 million people, most searching for work, in it.

It is important to look at the ramifications of the war reparations that France imposed on Haiti after 1804. This supposed debt was not repaid for almost 150 years later. During that time Haiti had to deal with its own civil war, a countryside that was denuded of forest and topsoil, a succession of ineffective leadership, a distrust of foreign entanglements, and a lack of exploitable natural resources. I am not sure the media has adequately analyzed what the effect of these war reparations were to such a poor country. The money that France demanded comes to tens of billions in today's money. It begs the question as to how France could have the nerve to demand such a thing--especially after raping the country's mahogany forest during the previous century, and participating in the slave trade that stole the Africans from their homelands and put them to work on French estates in Haiti.

The United States Marines entered the picture in 1915 and stayed for 20 years. When I was in Haiti in 1978, the effects could still be seen in the form of rampant prostitution and begging in the neighborhoods frequented by marines 50 years earlier, notably in Carrefour. In the 1950's Francois Duvallier imposed a dictatorship of fear. Elements of voodoo characterized his attempts to instill fear into the hearts and minds of Haitians. His reign of terror, followed by that of Baby Doc and his Tonton Macoutes assured a type of stability, but did nothing to put Haiti on a firm economic footing. I sat in at discussion roundtables of USAID and NGO's who felt universally stymied at how to approach Haiti's problems.

I have come to a simple conclusion: capitalize on Haiti's greatest resources. They are three: 1)the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the Haitian people, 2)the beauty of the country itself, and 3)Haiti's history. Haiti has fascinating history, splendid examples of gingerbread architecture, and stunning coast and landscapes. Included in this are Haiti's superb historical monuments (still standing, I hope, after the earthquake), beautiful beaches along the St. Marc coast and near Jacmel, mountain hideaways like near Kenscoff and the mountains behind Limbe, colonial streets in Cap Haitian. Haitians are wonderfully creative. Jacmel was the center for art and cinema and well known in New York and Paris. St. Marc and Port de Paix have unique and quaint fishing venues. All of this is based on my impressions that are admittedly 30 years old. In the intervening political turmoil, some of these places may have been changed or thrown into question.

Haiti needs also to become more economically independent. The need for cooking fuel, for instance, is a major problem for many of the poor. Consequently even scrub bushes are harvested to turn into charcoal, further excacerbating the deforestation problem. Petrol is horribly expensive in Haiti and always has been. Access to basic services: water, electricity, phones are limited to the "haves" and not to the barely surviving poor. The economic problems to help this starving country of 9 million souls with no discernible source of income are staggering. I offer the above as a point of departure for discussion.